Nightmares
by Aelia Douglass
Summary: Werewolves don't go to Sovngarde, but the Dragonborn isn't willing to spend an afterlife without her husband.
1. Chapter 1

For the SkyrimKinkMeme.

_So the Dragonborn has a dream about going to Soverngarde with his/her spouse,who has yet to be cured of Werewolf-ism. They're about to be accepted into the Hall of Valor when suddenly their lover is suddenly taken away to spend an Eternity in Hircine's hunting grounds._

_Cue the Dragonborn waking up with a sudden panic attack, thus waking their spouse, who does what they can to comfort them._

This story is meant to be a stand-alone sequel to "Bound."

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><p>Death follows those of the sign of the warrior. It is like a second shadow, always present, and inescapable. When you travel the warrior's path, you get used to the idea that you will die younger than most. Your death will probably be sudden. Expectedly unexpected.<p>

Lila had known, and Farkas had known, too, that they would probably not get a chance to die of old age. However, expecting death and facing your own demise were two entirely different things. Realizing that despite all your expectations you were not ready for the death which you met was unnerving.

She had expected a warrior's end. But this... this was not the death of a warrior.

Lila and Farkas had been on their way to Solitude, riding double on her latest horse. It had been Lila's idea, and Farkas had only agreed with it after she had pointed out how badly he was limping. His knee had healed, but the cold made it ache, and Skyrim was a frozen country.

Their path had taken them along the side of a mountain, dangerously close to the edge. Lila had only been distracted for a moment, but that moment had been crucial. Their horse had no sense of self-preservation, and was unable to back up. They'd slipped right off the side, the three of them bouncing off unforgiving granite.

And then it was over.

She was alone.

"Farkas?"

Mist surrounded her, obscuring everything. Shapes moved, but no sounds met her ears.

"FARKAS!" she screamed, spinning around, searching for any sign of her husband. He was gone.

A familiar laugh teased from the mist. She knew that laugh. Hircine. His antlers appeared first, then the rest of him.

"Farkas is mine," He sounded so pleased. She wanted to beat his smug daedric face. "He ceased to be a true Nord long ago. Now he is one of mine; a wolf in my Hunting Grounds."

"No!" Lila screamed, lunged at the prince. He was just out of reach.

"You can't save him now..." His laugh was still gleeful, but there was something dark and twisted beneath the entertainment.

She lunged for him again...


	2. Chapter 2

Lila woke when she hit the hard wooden floor. The impact, and the sudden cold immobilized her. Farkas was gone. He was gone, and she was going to be alone forever. There was no point in living without him. No point. He was her everything. She lived for him, had _breathed_ for him since the first day she'd seen him. She'd been smitten. His quiet strength, his honest gaze, they'd drawn her to him.

She was busy wallowing when she felt a light touch at her shoulder. She shrieked, and reached for her sword, spinning around to see Farkas, staring at her with concern on his face.

"Are you alright, dear?"

Lila stared up at him, tears gathering in her eyes. She tried to answer, but when she opened her mouth, nothing came out. Instead, she shook her head. She had never been a weepy woman. In fact, she had always scorned those who responded with tears but... facing the idea of an eternity without her beloved... that made her weep.

Farkas responded quickly, scooping her up from the floor and settling her in his lap on the bed. He ran his fingers through her hair, the dark strands tangling around his fingers. He was gentle, calm, soothing. He was everything she needed- as he always was- and more. His hands moved slowly through her hair, untangling it, smoothing it.

The panic began to ebb. She sagged against him, her hand stroking his bare chest. He was here. He was really here. It was just a nightmare. She hadn't lost him yet. She pressed her cheek against him, her ear to his chest. His heart beat strongly within. Her eyelids fluttered shut.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

His heartbeat was steady, his breathing even. She listened, and tried to calm herself. He was alive. He was here. She was with him. He had not abandoned her for an eternity in Hircine's Hunting Grounds. She needed to be closer. He seemed to understand that, allowing her to move until she was comfortable, then tightening his grip once more, pulling her close.

"Maybe..." she finally said, her breathing slowing to a normal pace, her heart beating in time with his.


	3. Chapter 3

"You died."

To his credit, he didn't scoff. He paused, however. Seemingly turning the words over in his mind.

"I'm not dead."

It was stated so calmly, so simply that it made her feel silly. But it had been _real_ for her in a way he couldn't comprehend. She had _been_ there. Without a doubt in her mind, she knew she had actually seen Hircine, not some figment of her imagination. The Daedric Prince had teased her (warned her?) about her husband's fate.

"No, in my dream, you died." She nuzzled closer, pressing her face against his neck, the night's stubble scratching her and reminding her once more that he was really here. "So did I." It was going to be hard to explain. "I was in a mist but... but you weren't there."

He frowned, but didn't say anything. She almost wished she had, because his quiet was disconcerting. She usually knew how to interpret his silence, knew what he wanted to say even when he didn't know how to say it. Farkas had a thousand different silences, and she'd thought she knew every one, but this one, she didn't know.

"Hircine appeared. He told me you belonged to him." Tears were welling up in her eyes once more. She had never, ever been tearful before. She had buried her parents with dry eyes, but the mere contemplation of her husband's absence in the afterlife made her cry. Lila felt emotions; she felt angry, or happy, or sad, even, but she'd never felt this depth of despair before. "That... that you were going to his Hunting Grounds."

"Lila," she heard anguish in the rumble of his voice. It drove home her fears. He _knew_ something. "You had to realize that werewolves don't go to Sovngarde?"

Her stomach clenched. She _did_ know. She'd helped Kodlak, hadn't she? She felt stupid for not realizing. She'd cured Kodlak, and then herself, never even thinking about Farkas. It wasn't that he hadn't mattered, but the ramifications of a werewolf husband had not occurred to her before.

Gods. She'd seen him _transform_. She'd watched, her heart in her throat, as he'd battled the Silver Hand. She'd known her husband was a werewolf, but she hadn't _known_ because he never really transformed. It hadn't been real to her. It was real now.

"Would you want..." She was afraid to ask. Lila couldn't bear the thought that Farkas might not want to spend the afterlife with her. Maybe he was like Aela, and wanted nothing more than to Hunt for eternity. Maybe he was just married to her because he'd been too _nice_ to say no.

"Lila," he pulled back, caught her chin with his hand, and stared straight into her eyes. "I don't care where I go when I die, as long as it's with you."


	4. Chapter 4

The nightmare was back the next night.

This time they died by dragonfire. The mist enveloped her once more, but she didn't scream. It was a dream. It was just a dream, and it would be alright if she could just wake up.

"It's not a dream," Hircine's voice came from just behind her right shoulder. She spun, but he wasn't there. "It's a warning."

He laughed once more. Laughed and laughed at her until she was screaming in rage and frustration and fear and all the pent-up emotions she'd been feeling since she'd realized that she wouldn't be with Farkas in the afterlife.


	5. Chapter 5

Lila woke to find herself cradled in her husband's arms, his cheek resting against the top of her head as he rocked her and whispered soothing nonsense. He was clinging to her, and his voice was rough. He moved his head slightly, and she realized her hair was damp. Was he crying?

"Farkas?"

"Lila!" his lips claimed her own in a desperate kiss. She felt his fear. He was shaking. "You wouldn't wake."

"I'm awake now."

He cupped her chin, his thumb stroking her lip, his eyes searching hers. He just stared at her, his gaze on her face.

"Yes. You are, love." He didn't say anything further, but she read volumes from his face. There was fear. It wasn't that Farkas was fearless, but this was a different sort of fear. What she saw in him was the bone-deep terror that only comes from confronting something horrific.

But this was their bedroom.

He had been holding her. Clinging to her. And he was _afraid_.

She was missing part of the story. Something was wrong. She'd had a nightmare, but that had been all. She should have been the one who was shaken, but instead her husband was a wreck and she was soothing him.

"What happened?"


	6. Chapter 6

"You were gone, Lila." He whispered. His voice was haunted, his gaze distant, not focusing on anything in this room. "You were _dead _in my arms until a moment ago."

"Farkas," she hugged him, pressing her cheek against the rough warmth of his chest. His heart was racing, each beat harder and faster than it should have been. "I'm here." She tilted her face up to him, and he obliged her by placing a kiss upon her lips. And another. And then he was rubbing his forehead against hers.

"I can't lose you."

"You won't." Lila tucked her head under his chin, where it fit as though they were made for this. "Tomorrow we're going to cure you."

"I don't understand." He stated. The shakiness had left his voice, and he was sounding more like himself as the fear and anxiety faded.

"It's Hircine." Her ear was pressed against his chest, so she heard his heart as it sped again at the mention of the hunt-god's name. "He's _toying _with me. We're going to give him the hunt he wants, and then we're going to cure you."

"Alright, love." Farkas leaned back against the head of their bed, slowly relaxing again. "Tomorrow we begin."

The fear and tension faded from their muscles and the two of them drifted back into a less troubled sleep.

Tomorrow they would face this.

Together.

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><p><em>I realized I'd lost the point of the story somewhere, and it was threatening to become a rambly-mess. So instead of dragging this out, I'm ending it here. If I spot a prompt, or otherwise get inspired, I do actually want to show them taking on Hircine. <em>

_But it's not happening here, in this story. It won't be tonight._

_So, the End... for now._


End file.
